Roku Inc. is winning the early media streaming player wars in the US, despite the huge brand advantage of Apple and higher sales of its Apple TV gear.

A recent Parks Associates survey of 10,000 US broadband homes found that Roku's over-the-top (OTT) video player is easily the most used streaming media device in the nation. Thirty-seven percent of the responding households with streaming media players said they primarily use the Roku box, while 24 percent said they primarily use the newer Apple TV. No other streaming media player came close to those two, including devices from Sony Corp., Tivo Inc., Netgear, and Boxee (which Samsung recently bought).

Notably, Roku's box was the most used streaming media device in the US even though it's not the top-selling device. Roku said in April that it has sold more than 5 million boxes. Apple said in May that it has sold about 13 million of its streaming settops.

OTT media players appear to be on the cusp of going mainstream in the US. In a new research report (subscription required), Parks Associates found that the devices are now in 14 percent of US homes -- double the penetration rate of just two years ago.

Parks Associates predicts that the number of connected TV devices sold worldwide will reach 330 million by 2017 -- nearly double the expected total for this year. It expects annual revenue from such devices to nearly double by 2017 as surging sales more than offset declining average product prices.

But the research firm warns that the booming market will create differentiation challenges for consumer electronics manufacturers and service providers alike. With average product prices expected to drop by as much as 50 percent, it will be "critical" for manufacturers and providers to innovate, so they can generate fresh advertising and content placement revenue.

From the article, "Roku Tops Apple TV" by Alan Breznick.
 

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